Category: News

(Wellington, New Zealand – Thursday 25 March, 2021) – Rose & Locket, a colourful New Zealand-made indie game by two-person team Whistling Wizard, has won this year’s $25,000 Kiwi Game Starter, the NZ Game Developers Association’s startup competition. Battlecruisers by MechaWeka was the $10,000 runner-up. The winner was chosen from 26 total entries and 4 […]

The winners of this year’s Kiwi Game Starter Competition will be announced this Thursday by Livestream!  Watch the Livestream on YouTube!  Please join us at 12:00PM Noon on Thursday March 25th Join us this Thursday to hear who will be this year’s winner of the 2020 Kiwi Game Starter Competition! Normally the winner would be […]

Four finalist spots go to Battlecruisers, Ghostvale, Rose & Locket, and Seedlings (Wellington, New Zealand – Friday 5 March, 2021) – on Friday the judges of the Kiwi Game Starter, the NZ Game Developers Associations’ startup competition for talented game developers, announced the four finalists for 2020: Battlecruisers (Mecha Weka), Ghostvale (Wildflower), Rose & Locket […]

  This week in the news: A front-page article in the Dominion Post about the growth of game development in New Zealand. Featuring interviews with some of our industry’s champions – including Karah Sutton of PikPok, Lucy Morris of Starcolt, James Everett of NZXR Ltd., Simon McCallum of Victoria University, and NZGDA Chairperson, Chelsea Rapp. […]

New Zealand’s video game developers have proven themselves resilient through Covid-19. Our interactive media sector earned $323.9 million in the year to 1 April 2020, an increase of $121 million in one year alone. The industry benefited both from being able to continue production during lockdowns as well as soaring demand as people around the […]

New Zealand’s game development sector continues to go from strength to strength despite COVID challenges. The Minister for the Digital Economy and Communications, David Clark, welcomed a news the game development sector’s exports grew by more than 59 per cent in the year to April 2020 to reach $324 million. “This is a fantastic result […]

We have great news for anyone working on their Kiwi Game Starter entry – or for those not sure whether to take the plunge, maybe this will help you decide! Sam Barham won last year’s Kiwi Game Starter first prize with his game Before We Leave, a peaceful city builder that eventually found a home […]

Entry forms for the New Zealand Game Developers Association startup programme for interactive games businesses, the Kiwi Game Starter, are now open! Apologies for the delay, this has been down to a number of factors including setting up a new Mentorship Programme for this year and knock on effects from Covid-19. Entrants should prepare their […]

Are you a community minded game developer who wants to grow New Zealand’s game development sector? Then consider standing for the 2020/2021 New Zealand Game Developers Association board! The NZGDA welcomes diverse candidates from across New Zealand, in any role in the industry or craft who are current members of the Association. Some of the […]

The NZGDA has written a submission to Parliament about the planned Screen Workers Rights Bill which aims to improve workers rights for contractors (not fulltime employees) working in our screen – and games – industry. Read our submission here. What do you think?

We’re delighted to formally open applications for the NZGDA 2020 Mentorship Scheme, supported by a grant from the NZFC. Applications are welcomed from both potential Mentors and Mentees at their respective links at the end of this story. It has taken longer to work out the best way in which to operate the scheme than […]

It’s my sad duty to announce that the board has made the decision to cancel this year’s New Zealand Game Developers Conference (NZGDC) due to the risks around COVID-19.  This was not a decision we made lightly. We understand that NZGDC is one of the few opportunities the NZ games industry has to get together […]

New Zealand’s Grinding Gear Games has beaten some of the world’s leading games – including Fortnite and Final Fantasy XIV – to win the 2020 BAFTA for Best Evolving Game. Since 2003, The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has included Games alongside Film and Television in their annual award ceremonies. Path of Exile […]

The Government is changing the law about how game developers and other “screen production workers” – primarily those on contracts – are employed. The goal is to strengthen contractor’s employment rights while still keeping New Zealand an attractive place to make games and movies. While the Bill focuses on film, TV and VFX the Government […]

A new survey has found New Zealand’s game development sector has grown beyond expectations and is on track to becoming a billion dollar industry in 2025, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford says. “New Zealand’s interactive media sector grew by 42 per cent in last financial year to $203.4 million, according to the NZ Game Developers […]